State v. Allen, 55454
| Decision Date | 06 August 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 55454,55454 |
| Citation | 817 S.W.2d 526 |
| Parties | STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Derrick ALLEN, Appellant. |
| Court | Missouri Court of Appeals |
John Krehmeyer, Asst. Public Defender, Clayton, for appellant.
William L. Webster, Atty. Gen., Robert P. Sass, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for respondent.
Defendant appeals conviction of possession of a controlled substance, phencyclidine. Section 195.020 RSMo 1986. Defendant claims the evidence was insufficient to support a guilty verdict and was the product of an illegal search and seizure. We affirm.
The search and seizure issue will be disposed of first because that activity elicited the evidence necessary to charge the defendant, namely the drug. On May 20, 1987, at approximately 10:00 a.m., Officer Thomas Crowley observed defendant driving a white 1976 Buick. He noticed the license plate was a November plate, but the inspection sticker on the windshield was an August sticker. The officer radioed the dispatcher and learned the license plates were not registered to the car. Officer Crowley then pulled defendant over and asked to see a driver's license and his registration. The defendant claimed he had neither and identified himself by a false name.
"As a matter of procedure" defendant was placed under arrest for operating a vehicle without a valid driver's license. In the process of a pat down search pursuant to the arrest, the officer discovered a driver's license in defendant's pocket. The name on the license, that of the defendant, was different than the name originally given to the officer by the defendant. Defendant's license had been suspended.
Also, as part of standard procedure, defendant was informed his car would be towed because there was no other licensed driver in the car. The arrest took place outside defendant's girlfriend's apartment. Although, she came out and offered to drive defendant's car, the officer began an inventory search of the car as required by department regulation. During the search, the officer found a vial under the front seat arm rest. Lab tests indicated the vial contained phencyclidine (PCP).
Defendant contends the vial found in the car and evidence the vial contained PCP should have been suppressed because it was obtained during a warrantless search of defendant's automobile. The law does not support the contention.
Generally, if the decision to impound and inventory is made in accordance with standard procedures, a warrant is unnecessary. State v. Milliorn, 794 S.W.2d 181, 186 (Mo. banc 1990) (quoting South Dakota v. Opperman, 428 U.S. 364, 96 S.Ct. 3092, 49 L.Ed.2d 1000 (1976)). In the present case, the standard procedure requirement was met. Officer Crowley arrested defendant because he was operating a vehicle without a valid driver's license. The officer testified regulations require impounding an automobile if another licensed driver is not present in the car at the time of arrest. Defendant was alone in the car. The evidence of the procedure was not challenged. In accord with the procedure and in order to protect the police department from claims of lost goods, an inventory of the car must be made. Through the inventory, the vial was found. The vial, therefore, is the product of a valid inventory procedure,...
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